Old Postcards Value: Which Cards Are Worth Money

Most old postcards are worth a few dollars at most, but the right ones sell for $20 to $100 and a few for thousands. Mailseum notes that the golden-age cards of 1905 to 1915 command the most money, yet most of those are still worth under $5, because billions were mailed: Wikipedia records nearly a billion a year in the US alone from 1905 to 1915. Warwick & Warwick, a UK auctioneer, estimates that about 90% of an average collection has very little value.

Warwick & Warwick names demand, condition and rarity as the three biggest influences on price, and Mailseum adds that value ranges from a few dollars to thousands. The small share of good cards is what makes it worth sorting a collection rather than selling it unseen.

• 1869: the first postal cards, in Austria-Hungary; about 3 million were mailed in the first three months (Wikipedia).
• 1873 to 1874: the United States and several other countries introduced government postal cards (Wikipedia).
• May 1898: the US cut postage for privately printed cards from two cents to one, which launched the private postcard industry (Wikipedia).
• Undivided back: the whole back was for the address, so messages were written on the front (Warwick & Warwick).
• Divided back: introduced in Britain in 1902 and in the United States in 1907 (Wikipedia); in the US, messages were permitted on the back from 1 March 1907 (Wikipedia, Real photo postcard).
• Real photo postcards: Kodak launched the No. 3A Folding Pocket Kodak for postcard-size film in 1903 and a real-photo postcard printing service by 1907 (Wikipedia). The photo paper maker's name in the stamp box, such as AZO, Velox or Cyko, helps date these cards.
• Size: the standard British size of 5 by 3 inches was used from 1902, and larger cards became popular from the 1960s (Warwick & Warwick).

• Real photo postcards (RPPCs). Mailseum ranks them among the most valuable. Wikipedia notes they document American life, especially in small towns and rural areas, from local pride to events such as the Mexican Revolution.
• Small-town views. Mailseum says views of smaller towns usually sell for more than big-city views.
• Topographical cards with activity. Warwick & Warwick prices UK real photo street scenes of 1902 to 1918 at £15 to £30, £40 to £70 when they show steam lorries or buses, and £100 or more for suffragette processions. Printed versions of the same views are worth substantially less.
• Artist-signed cards. Louis Wain, Alphonse Mucha and Raphael Kirchner are named by Warwick & Warwick; Art Nouveau and Art Deco glamour cards in good condition can reach three figures.
• Advertising cards. Mailseum cites a Sparkling Grape Soda advertising card at $1,126.
• Sports and famous people. Mailseum reports a Babe Ruth postcard sold at auction for $564,000; it does not give the sale date.
• Postmarks. Warwick & Warwick notes that a desirable postmark can be worth more than the picture.

Warwick & Warwick grades postcards on a seven-step scale and puts numbers on two of the steps:

• Mint: perfect and unposted.
• Near Mint: slight ageing only.
• Excellent: no obvious flaws, square corners.
• Very Good: worth about 20 to 25% less than Excellent.
• Good: worth about 40 to 50% less than Excellent.
• Fair: collectable but compromised.
• Poor: a space-filler with minimal value.

Creases, rounded corners, pinholes and album damage move a card down this scale; the same card can lose half its value between Excellent and Good.

• A postcard or stamp auctioneer. Warwick & Warwick offers free valuations.
• Auction. Mailseum lists auction among the main selling routes, and auctions suit large collections and high-value single cards.
• Dealers and postcard fairs, where you can get offers on the spot.
• Online marketplaces for individual good cards, once you know what they are.

The stamp on a postcard is usually not the valuable part: Warwick & Warwick notes that most stamps on postcards were produced in such numbers that they have minimal value.

• Pull out every real photo card: the image has the continuous tone and sheen of a photograph, not the dots of printing, and the back often names a photo paper such as AZO, Velox or Cyko.
• Pull out small-town views, scenes with people, vehicles or events, artist-signed cards, advertising cards and anything with an unusual postmark.
• Set aside cards from after the 1960s and large-city printed views; these are the low-value majority.
• Grade the pulled cards honestly using the scale above.
• Get a valuation on the pulled group before you sell the rest as a lot.

AntiqLens can help identify the place, publisher and period of a card from a photo of the front and back.

Research and drafting for this page were assisted by AI and checked line by line against the sources listed below. Prices are copied from the named auction house, dealer or guide with the sale date where the source gives one and the date we checked it; asking prices and estimates are labelled as such, and where a figure could not be confirmed we say so rather than estimate. If you find an error, tell us and we will correct it.